Market Overview

The Presidential SagaThe presidential elections have a profound impact on the economy and the markets. Authors Jeffrey A. Hirsch and Yale Hirsch examine yearly what is known as the Presidential...

The title (above) of Peggy Lee’s hit song from 1969 captures the general reaction to the BEA’s first release of second-quarter GDP for 2016. The 1.2% growth for the quarter was not only...

In its recently-published update of the world economic outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down its forecast for global growth in 2016 by 0.1 percentage points (pps) to 3.1%. The...

To better understand this week’s Fed announcement, it’s important to compare the economic backdrop between the June 14-15 and July 26-27 meeting. While first quarter GDP growth was...

The Weekly Charts for Nasdaq, Gold, Miners, France, UK, Germany, US Dollar and the Euro.Most traders are so short-term oriented that they forget to look at the weekly charts. The weeklies will tell...

The Markit China Manufacturing PMI crossed into positive territory, but barely. This is the first positive reading in operating conditions since February 2015. July survey data signalled a renewed...

Europe slows The US and the UK accelerates Monetary easing in Japan The week was marked by the releases of first growth estimates for the second quarter. Eurozone growth slowed, with GDP up only...

The economic calendar is fairly light in August since Q2 growth figures have already been released for the United States, the UK and the eurozone. All that is left is Japan. This month the main...

I have no idea how many books have been written about Warren Buffett, but sometimes I have the feeling that he is giving George Washington a run for his money. The latest addition to the literature is...

Headline second quarter advance GDP estimate is 1.2 %, up from last quarter's downward revised 0.8 %. Yet the year-over-year GDP growth declined from 1.6 % to 1.2 %. The real story is the backward...

Canada – Real GDP fell 0.6% in May, a bit worse than the -0.5% print expected by consensus. Goods producing industries saw a 2.8% drop in output, with declines in all sub-categories including...

Take a look at the $100 bill, ¥10,000 note, and €100 note. They are all pieces of paper with an intrinsic value near zero. Their money-like characteristics establish the value for each bill...

This report is really about an investment slowdown. Household spending, which accounts for 70% of US growth, was strong and rebounded from a weak 1Q: All three categories of spending—durable...

In a desperate search for yield, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and public pension funds have been investing in corporate debt and equities on a scale we have never seen before, the...